Cha Cha Jimenez
The Origins of
Puerto Rican Gangs
in Chicago
Exceprted
from an Interview
by Ralph Cintron and Erika RodriguezJune, 2002
[Note:
This site is taken from a transcript of a much longe interview with
Mr. Jimenez. Names are being checked and any inaccuracies are the responsiblity
of gangresearch.net. Corrections can be emailed
to us.]
Cha Cha: ...In Chicago there were
a lot of people from the Caguas. .. there's a lot of Puerto Ricans
from the same town here. Like in Grand Rapids you have a lot of
people from San Valencio. So it's each town kinda...
They followed the families. So our families was,,
and there was a lot of people from Caguas. And later there was
a Caguas social club and everything,.... So there were a lot of
people from that region...And so people followed their families
basically and their towns.
...people came after '46,..and I read somewhere
that there were people in the 30's too but they were scattered
around. In 1950 maybe to, for sure in '55 there was a big migration
and that's what built the La Clark the ___ blood, on Clark and
on Madison. And that's what, well actually by that time it was
North
Avenue so it was Lincoln Park.
On Halstead and Division...that
was all Puerto Rican. Lot of young lords lived in
that building, you know... They were coming new immigrants and
they were 18 and
19 years old and there were relatives cousins, you know a lot
of that. I know a lot
of people from Aguas Buenas and from Caguas and some of them were
Jimenez, a lot
of them were Jimenez. With
my cousins over there and uncles. And they became a
group called the Hacha Viejas basically. So they came all the
way from Pueto Rico
from Aguas Buenas and Caguas but the came to Chicago and they
started around
together in the saloons and the bars and drinking. The ones that
could. Some
were still not even 18 years of age so they couldn't drink till
they were 21 at
that time. But there were a lot of fights
Cha Cha: Old Hachets. I
don't, I know that the leader's called Old Hachet so that could have
been
after his nickname they call it...They call him Hacha Vieja
and he's a veteran from WWI or II...
(More on Hacha Vieja, machismo, and women)
..
I: Were there any connections
to Puerto Rico, like gangs in Puerto Rico or is it like a gang
thing that forms here in La Clark and you know other places?
Cha Cha: The other gang
was Los Heraldos they were the gang on Madison. But actually the Hachas
Viejas would go to Halstead and around Madison to the bars or saloons
there. They were called
saloons at that time for some reason I don't know. But they would go
to saloons in that area and then
they would fight with Mexicans at that time or they would fight with
Italians or they would fight with
different groups...There was the Kings and the Latin Angels and maybe some of the
Pyragons
because they were older you might be able to find... Even a little from
Lincoln Park they probably knew of
each other or I think... the Black Eagles I know they were Fredo
Vavilez from the gaslight village
, he was the leader of the Black Eagles.
I: Do these gangs do
they precede?
Cha Cha: they precede the
Young Lords..and.. the Latin Kings.
I: So we're talking
like 58, 59, something like that?
Cha Cha: Orlando de Villa
was the founder of the Young Lords and he was a fighter. I mean I was
more...like an organizer; he was more like the tough guy in the group...
Although when he got me...
he organized the Young Lords... I was in St. Theresa's...I was in Newberry
School, and, because my
mother was involved in this church and because we didn't have money
for me to go to school. ..
I: So you really are
using the name Young Lords? Like 58, 59, you're already using the name
young lords?
Cha Cha: Oh yeah... in 59
yeah, we were the young lords in 59...The Young Lords started with
seven members. There's Benny Perez, Orlando DaVilla, Saldo ___ de
Crusander, Herman Perez,
Santos Guzman, Joey Cente, and Johnny Trinadon, maybe there were
a couple more that were there
but there were... Johnny Trinadon did it with us but he wasn't really
a Young Lord at that time. But...
we started and...we started choosing names there. And Orlando's the
one that got everybody
together for the meeting. I didn't become president of the young lords
till later. I was the
last president of the Young Lords.
...Like the young lords
didn't fight other Puerto Rican gangs. We didn't you know we had individuall
we fought. Like I fought other members of another gang or something
like that individually. And got
whupped, got whupped two different times. But we're not gonna talk about
too many of those. But
young lords basically we were fighting like white gangs and I think
we fought one African American
gang and...we were trying to take our name from an African American,
from the Vice Lords was one
of the people we try to take our name from at that time. And also the
majestic lords of New York.
So we were looking to New York for leadership and also to the black
gangs as leadership. But then
once we started we the Cobras were around, the Egyptian Cobras were
the big gang at that time
the black gang, and so we started a coalition. We called it the Egyptian
Lords... So we were trying
to build unity then in our own way.
...That's when the big migration
came (1955-56) and that's when North Avenue became the Puerto
Rican community. The business strip. And it stretched all the way to
Western and the river. It
came all the way from Lincoln Park you know they spread that way. Then
the Puerto Ricans moved
west, not only west on North Avenue, they'd also moved west on Chicago
Avenue and they moved
northwest on Milwaukee. So all those, they just followed the streets
through there. They passed
Halstead St. basically and started going towards Ashland and that.
Cha Cha: basically what the changing my head there was that each of us
went to (1968) Democractic convention...
we saw the protestors get beat up and they were running this way and
the cops were running after em...
And so we're you know the police are hitting them,
knocking them out and all that, and we're together. We're gang bangers;
we're there on a field trip. So we're like as they come out here we're
kicking some police butt here. We're
not gonna get kicked. So the police, we just kinda stood there and they
kind of ran right by. Not that they couldn't
whip us but they kinda knew that we were not running we just kinda stood
there and then we were as a group and the police just since we weren't
running they didn't go after us. They wanna have some people that were
running. So we kinda walked out of there and I didn't pay... ...after...two
hours... I go to the corner and there's Pat Devine.. there with another
lady and these guys are trying to rap to them, trying to take
them to bed and stuff like that and they are basically they're saying
you know they didn't care. I mean because they're talking politics they're
trying to educate em. They're trying to talk to them of politics on
the street. This was right at Halstead and Dickens.
Then my friend Benny who was in the young lords, cat
comes walking down with his uniform 'cause he was an usher at a service.
And this lady, Pat Devine from the concerned citizens of Lincoln Park
calls him and said what are you doing you're fighting against poor people
and you know I mean she starts talking all this stuff and embarassing
my friend Benny from the young lords...so these two other guys from...
the Paragons and they're trying to get in their pants or whatever. But
I was offended that she embarassed my friend and I just came out of
jail so I just.. I said...the wrong the B-word. I said look you fucking
bitch when you go you white bitch I said who are you to come in our
neighborhood and insult my friend down and all this stuff. So... I said
you a fucking communist you know and I called her and she goes aw I'm
proud to be a communist and I'm going I said look at this B, she's proud
to be a communist.
I thought is she crazy and I mean I'm just thinking
why would she come <laugh> she's proud to be a communist. So then,
I had never heard anybody say that. I'm proud to be a communist. So
then, they you know the guys are winking at me. They said man Cha Cha
why don't you calm down and relax. Cause all they're trying to do is
get into her pants. And I go you know I said you know what I'll go across
the street. I don't want to hear this I want to get away from this "B"
whatever I'll go across the street. So yeah go Cha Cha, get out of here
you know you know. So I went across the street and then I kinda wandered
back and when we started talking me and the other guy Benny we started
talking then we kinda wandered back and then we started.. you know we
started talking to the other guys and then she invites all of us to
her house. So we went over by her house and
she was one of the first organizers there in Lincoln Park. You know
trying to organize latinos to fight for the Regal. And I didn't understand
what was going on at that time.
...me and Benny were kinda like drinking wine and listening
to music and stuff like that in the living room. And then you know then
they kinda left or whatever and .. we started talking and then everybody
slowly kinda drifted away or something. I think the guys thought that
maybe I wanted to go, get mad or something. But I was more concerned
about I wanted to learn about my community...I mean for some reason
I was getting into an intellectual discussion
...I mean it's fine, the sex was fine if, but I wasn't at all thinking
about at that time, I was thinking more about
the community. You know I was hurt about what was going on in my community...what
she was saying was vibrating all through my head basically.
So.. we stayed talking. I mean it was like daylight
when I finally you know decided to go home. You know we stayed talking
and another time I think we got a little closer... but we were talking
more intelligent at that time. Then she invited me to a meeting. And
then I said oh yeah I'll go, I'll check it out. I had never gone you
know. Meetings? We don't go to meetings and she said can you bring somebody.
I said yeah I can bring you, I can bring you, how many people you need?
I told her I can bring you as many as you need. You know so you know
I'm... bragging about you know the like the young lords leader I can
bring 'em all you know. But we don't really have a young lords at that
time so the date is steadily getting closer so I start trying to get
people and I start going to the bars and start talking..." they're
kicking us out of our neighborhood.'
...at the bars 'cause that's where we were hanging
out at and on the street corners. And I started talking to 'em and talking
to em and then I started getting into fights. You know they're calling
me a communist and I'm fighting. I'm mad that you call me a communistso I'm pissed off so I'm saying let's
go outside and why don't you tell me that outside whatever or what.'
Cause I don't want to ruin this guys' tavern you know with your blood
and that kind. You know I'm talking crazy. So oh yeah punk let's go
out. Judging or what ever. So we're, I'm literally getting into fights,
fistfights with people I grew up with. But they're just saying that
I'm hard headed and some of em are calling me crazy on whites or whatever
and they keep you know. So I just, I just kept it up, I just kept you
know. But then it looked like I was not gonna be able to get nobody.
I mean I was not making any headway but I was frank challenging people
but nobody wanted to listen to what I was talking about but I guess
I was making headway because they were beginning to open their eyes
at that time.
But the day came, two or three days came, and I told
her I'm having a hard time I'm don't think nobody's gonna come. She
said well why don't you just come by yourself you don't have to you
know worry about it. I said okay I'll go you know but I was feeling
bad I couldn't get anybody. But actually as it got closer, like one
or two days then all the sudden there were people I could see that there
was interest. And on that day she came there or something and we already
had our mind that we were gonna tear up the ... the office. We didn't
have in mind that we're gonna tear it up well actually yeah we're gonna
go over there and we're gonna tear these people up and then we're gonna
kick their butt. We weren't talking about tearing up the office.
More on urban renewal,
gentrification, and the politicization of the Young Lords
The Demise of the Young Lords
Cha Cha: Okay the young
lords, cause the young lords split up ... around 1967... so at that
time you know different
people were going to jail and then ... that's when the drug scene
...there was a group of
people from New York that came to the neighborhood. They were, they
started selling
drugs and getting everybody you know into it. So and we respected New
York...There was about 5 guys...that
came from New York together as a group and you know New York has a lot
of drugs at that time. I mean
New York was like this 10 years ahead, it was 10 years ahead of Chicago
in terms of the drugs, the drug scene.
And so they came and they they went first around Clark street. They
knew that neighborhood, they knew Clark
Street. And I guess they're somebody told em no those people moved out,
they live up, Puerto Ricans don't even
live here they move up you know.
I: Were they Puerto Rican,
the guys who came?
Cha Cha: Yeah they were
Puerto Rican. So they followed us to Lincoln Park to the house on Dickens.
And then all
the sudden they started, I know that stuff what they said that they
came there. Cause they were hanging around
in both places. You know they would hang around on Halstead and Dickens
which is Lincoln Park and they would
hang around by Chicago State by Clark Street.... So they would go from
there to Halstead and Dickens but I mean
they were like in and out of jail all the time too. So I would see 'em
in jail too. I mean they come in and out and
this to them was like a holiday inn or something where they were used
to going in and out of jail and then used to,
... there was this guy Kike
that I admired him because of the way he could defend himself before
a judge. I mean
he was like a jailhouse lawyer, I mean he knew how to defend himself
real good. So I mean they, he, plus he
had respect from the Blacks when we went to jail, you know he had respect.
So I kinda I kinda admired New York
you know at that time. And so they were starting there. You know I started
hanging around with him and they
were asking and I hadn't even gone to anywhere for you know when a cop
who was looking for me so I had gone
over there too. So then they started asking, I mean we started hanging
around and they started importing...
Turning people on to get em hooked.
Because they wanted to get
'em... they would turn em on cause heroin..., you turn somebody on and
they use it
two or three days in a row and theyÕre hooked. I mean once you use it
two or three days in a row. So they
started, you know they started doing that. Snorting it and all that
other stuff for us and then they, you know
some people started shooting it or whatever. So I was one of the first
to start doing that you know. And so
some of the other people were the leaders that were some of the first.
And then we were
dressing up, you know that we liked the way they dressed, they dressed
sharp you know. So we were dressing like
we were in the mafia or the syndicate you know with the hats and everything.
Suits, I remember me and Orlando
went in and got credit in this place and came out with about 4 or 5
suits each. So we were trying to dress sharp
you know whatever. But you know so we got into that and we got strung
out right away.... We didn't even know
what we were doing, we thought it was candy. And it wasn't candy it
was, you know it was serious stuff.
I: Did you feel addicted
then?
Cha Cha: I felt yeah, I
felt I had to have it you know every day. In fact I even went and I,
that's when I got kicked
completely out of my house because I you know I basically I sold the
furniture that I had. And I came in and told
my mother that somebody had broken in and taken it and my father said
you know I'll kill you you know. So he knew right away that I was lying.
So you know I basically had to leave the house. But then, so I went
to jail around that time.
Anyway I kept that up and I don't want to dwell on that part too much...
